The Cotswolds Cookery Club: A Taste of France - Book 3

‘Oh no. What have they done to you?’ gasped Kate.

‘They wanted to play hide and seek. Which involved an impressive attempt at stuffing me into a suitcase.’

Kate grimaced. ‘Ugh. I’m so sorry. Please feel free to press charges. I promise not to object.’

Melody laughed as she pulled out a chair at the table and lowered herself onto it. ‘I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself. They’re so funny.’

‘That’s one word for them. I hardly dare ask what they’re doing now.’

‘They’re in bed.’

Kate’s weary eyes grew wide. ‘Already? And with no screaming?’

‘No screaming at all. I did use a bit of bribery and corruption, though. I told them, if they went quietly, the next time I came, we’d play pirates and I’d walk the plank.’

‘Ha! There’s a top tip. Although if I offered to walk the plank, they’d have one jutting out of the bedroom window in a flash.’

‘If they do, let me know and I’ll film it for YouTube,’ snorted Connie.

Kate shook her head. ‘No chance. I’d be far too embarrassed. Not only because of my unruly children, but because of the state of the windows. And talking of clean windows – or rather lack thereof – reminds me of a conversation I had with Jemima this afternoon. She seems to be developing an obsession for her friend Cecilia’s mother, who not only has the most sparkling windows in the Cotswolds, but is everything I’m not. Making me feel like the world’s worst wife and mother.’

Stirring the pot-au-feu at the hob, Connie tutted. ‘Kate Ellis, you are one of the cleverest women I know. You’re a vet for heaven’s sake. You save animals’ lives. And you’re just feeling low because you’re worn out. Which is hardly surprising.’

Kate managed a weak smile. ‘Thanks, but there’s slightly more to it than that.’ She broke off, wondering if she dared voice the matter that had been weighing heavily on her mind for the last couple of weeks. ‘The thing is…’ All three members of the club stared at her. ‘…I think Andrew’s having an affair with the au pair.’

Chapter Three (#ua3aefc6b-7495-56a8-9bdb-a566b24f4035)

At the voicing of her husband’s suspected infidelity – to which she’d expected a collective horrified gasp – Kate was amazed to witness a flurry of knowing looks bounce around the trio in her kitchen.

‘Oh. My. God!’ she exclaimed, as the reason why slapped her in the face. ‘You already know.’

‘Of course we don’t know,’ countered Melody. ‘We just… might have seen them together. Occasionally.’

‘How occasionally?’

‘Just… now and then.’

‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’

‘There’s nothing to tell,’ said Connie. ‘When we have seen them, all they’ve been doing is talking.’

‘We thought she might be teaching him French,’ piped up Trish.

Kate rolled her eyes. ‘Hardly. Ugh. I feel like such an idiot.’

‘Well, you shouldn’t,’ insisted Connie. ‘Unless you’ve witnessed something you’re not telling us.’

Kate shook her head and puffed out a breath. ‘Nothing incriminating. I just… have a feeling.’

‘Based on what?’

‘Well, this is the second time in a few months that they’ve been away at the same time. And Andrew’s so grumpy these days. And Domenique’s always receiving text messages. And—’

‘But you haven’t actually seen them together together?’

‘No.’

‘Well, there you go then,’ said Melody. ‘You’re most likely blowing the whole thing out of proportion because you’re exhausted. What you need is a nice meal and a good night’s sleep.’

‘I never have a good night’s sleep.’

‘Hmm. Not much we can do about that, I’m afraid. But you can have a nice meal. Beginning right now.’

At the dinner table, having the sensation of being shrouded in a heavy fog, too tired to dwell on the Andrew/Domenique thing, Kate drifted in and out of the conversation, which skimmed topics such as baby names, teenage daughters and nervy greyhounds. And despite the food looking and smelling mouthwatering, she barely tasted it.

‘Right,’ announced Trish, what seemed to Kate eons after she’d raised the issue of her husband and the hired help. ‘It’s nearly ten o’clock. I think we should call it a night. Poor Kate is yawning her head off.’

‘I’m fine, honestly,’ Kate protested. Despite being anything but.

‘You’re not. You need to sleep. But we’re not leaving you with this lot.’ Trish indicated the mountain of dirty dishes scattered around. Some from the cookery club, others that Kate had missed in her cursory attempt to clear up earlier.

‘The dishwasher’s not working,’ she informed them with some embarrassment.

‘In that case, point us to the rubber gloves,’ instructed Melody. ‘Before we banish you to the living room.’

‘But—’

‘No arguments. Living room. Now!’

Too weak to argue, Kate dragged herself through to the lounge, chucked a muddy welly off the sofa and sank down on the grubby cushions. Where, within three seconds, she fell into a deep, much-needed sleep.

Rather than a tribe of squealing, squawking small people hurling their pyjama-clad bodies on top of her and jolting her awake, Kate eased herself into the next day at a leisurely pace, still on the sofa, but with a pillow at her head and a duvet covering her body. Revelling in such undisturbed and unaccustomed luxury, she jack-knifed upright at the sound of laughter upstairs. Noting the time of seven o’clock, horror ricocheted through her. The kids! They couldn’t possibly have slept this long. They could be wreaking all kinds of havoc while she’d temporarily relocated to the Land of Nod, dribbling into her pillow, oblivious to it all. As she scrabbled off the sofa and sprinted to the stairs, all kinds of horrific scenarios cantered through her head – swiftly culminating in her being jailed for child neglect and the children being whipped away by social services.

Rather than the anticipated scene of carnage, however, she found all three offspring under the duvet in the spare room, listening to a story from the fourth occupant of the bed: Melody.

‘I hope you don’t mind, but I stayed over,’ her surprise guest explained. ‘You were so exhausted, we didn’t want to wake you when we left. My other half’s away on business, so Connie picked up my dog and took her to her house, while I stayed here on kid-watch so you could have an undisturbed night’s sleep.’

Kate shook her woozy head in disbelief. ‘I don’t know what to say. That’s so incredibly kind.’

‘It’s been a pleasure. I can’t tell you the last time I’ve had so much fun at five in the morning. We’ve done all sorts, haven’t we, guys?’

Three little heads nodded. Noting how adorable they looked with their messy blond curls and huge blue eyes, Kate felt a rush of love. ‘I’ll go and make us all breakfast, shall I?’ she suggested.

‘No need,’ said Melody. ‘We’ve already had ours. We’ve left you some granola. And we’re staying right here until you’ve had a nice relaxing bath. Mummy deserves a bit of Me Time, doesn’t she?’

The little heads nodded again.

At which point, swamped with gratitude, Kate scampered over and enveloped them all in an enormous hug.